Author Dr. Seuss once said, “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” This Valentine’s Day, show not only your significant other the love they deserve but to the investments sitting in your backyard.

Freshly split or stacked for months, there are several reasons why proper maintenance is paramount for firewood. If this is your first time stacking or you just want a refresher course, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Choosing a location

Stacking your firewood

Drying and seasoning your firewood

Keeping pests away

Cover your firewood

Choosing a location is essential to ensure your firewood isn’t susceptible to moisture. If moisture sets in, rot can become a real problem while also attracting termites and other destructive insects. It is not only recommended to elevate your firewood off the ground but storing away from your home can be important as well. Just make sure the area you choose gets ample sunlight to dry and season your firewood.

Stacking your firewood can be quite the science when wanting to keep everything dry and ready to burn. A level surface can be more important than you think due to pieces shifting as they dry. So be careful with how high you stack your firewood. At this point, log racks can really come in handy to help keep everything organized while ensuring you don’t stack too high. Log racks are much easier to cover as well; but we’ll get to that later.

Due to bark really holding onto moisture, residents living in rainy states or are expecting inclement weather need to consider the angle when stacking. It is recommended facing the bark side toward the ground in rainy conditions but upward if snow accumulates.

Keeping these few techniques in mind leaves air circulation. Rather than just throwing your wood into a pile, stacking them allows air to whistle through helping them dry quicker. Also keep your firewood away from any walls for air to circulate all the way around.

Drying and seasoning your firewood can take up to six months. Starting late in the winter and/or early spring are considered the perfect time to start cutting; giving your firewood ample sunlight in the months to come. The key to having seasoned, ready to light, firewood is maximum drying time.

But how are you supposed to know when your firewood is ready? Before striking that match, your firewood will notify you if it is ready or not. If they change to a yellow or dark brown color you’re good to go. Also look at the ends for small cracks. If you’re buying firewood at the store, it has already gone through a drying and seasoning process.

Keeping pests away can be a frustrating, challenging endeavor. As mentioned earlier, termites can be a real threat and love to call your stacked firewood home. Attracted to older, dryer wood, make sure to burn the oldest in the bunch first.

Covering your firewood is an extremely important step to ensure you have clean, dry firewood to burn. For any recently collected pieces, go without a cover as it needs to be exposed to open air to dry. With that said, after you’ve chosen a location, properly stacked your firewood (in a safe space or a log rack), allowed for maximum drying time and pests are under control – it’s time for a cover.

Available in multiple colors and patio cover collections, Classic Accessories provides Log Rack Covers and Firewood Accessories so you can enjoy a season-long supply of firewood without concern. Don’t let rain, snow and weather elements determine your enjoyment when preparing a cozy fire for two or a bonfire for many. Save 30% NOW with discount code: FallFirePit at checkout!

In last week’s post, Why Cover Your Grill?, we talked about how Mother Nature dishes out a wide variety of weather across the U.S. Humid and coastal climates become highly rust-prone due to paint corrosion from salt, high levels of moisture in the air and rapid changes in temperature. Put simply, warmer climates, rather than cool ones, are where rust likes to kick things into high gear. Especially unique to coastal residents, salt water brings an additional threat to the finish of your metal furniture, grills and other outdoor accessories. Salt solution acts as an electrolyte, increasing the rate material rusts, much like how water molecules speed up the reaction, transforming your beloved barbecue into a rust bucket.

Some metal objects, when exposed to oxygen in the air, combine very slowly and create iron oxide, or rust. Leah Raeder, author and self-proclaimed “unabashed nerd” of Good Reads explains, “This is the same oxidation process as fire believe it or not. Isn’t that weird? So really, rust is the slowest fire ever.”2

If someone told you, ‘water causes something to burn2,‘ you would think they’re crazy. But that is not far from the truth in describing water’s impact on accelerating the oxidation of your outdoor metal pieces and implements. The more you can do to keep water from resting and accumulating on your items, the better.

In addition to keeping water from standing on your outdoor items, it’s important to clean them periodically. Cleaning can remove rust that may accumulate over time and accelerate the oxidation of perfectly functional portions of metal. Remember to regularly inspect and maintain the exterior as well as interior sections of your grill. Check out Consumer Reports Video for a quick guide to cleaning your grill:

Look for any signs of rusting so proper steps can be taken to delay or prevent the process from happening. Rust prevention methods can vary. The metal can be coated with a number of ‘ailments’ to help deter rust or rejuvenate the metal much like how grease or oil helps draw out moisture. Even zinc is a viable choice when rust-proofing. In fact, nearly one half of all zinc produced is used in zinc galvanizing processes to protect steel and iron from rusting3. Zinc is commonly known as the ‘sacrificial metal.’ – for reasons you can see below:Barbecue grills left un-maintained and uncovered against the elements can create quite the eye sore in your yard. We recommend the use of a grill cover and regular inspections and cleanings to prolong the life of your grill and keep it performing at a high level.